Observer Perspective — Interoceptive Focus

Interoceptive focus is the ability to willfully take control of subconscious processes.

Conscious vs Subconscious Processes

We all have urges. On one end of the spectrum, we all have processes and patterns that happen deep within our brains that we can’t control. On the other hand, we have our conscious mind that seems to be operating independently. Some examples of conscious processes include the ability to choose whether to oblige a beggar asking for alms. To take things a step further, there are processes whose mode of control can be controlled consciously. An example is breathing. We can consciously control whether breathing is controlled consciously or subconsciously. Whoaaa man! That is so meta level stuff man! How high are you rn? Stay with me…

Anyways. Lastly, there are some processes that are sometimes in conscious control, sometimes not. An example of one such process is the urge to honk at a driver that cut you off. It just depends on how conscious you are in that moment.

The growth of conscious control

Although there seem to be two discrete minds that are conscious and subconscious, I argue that in reality that division is very fluid and trainable. One evidence is the fact that there are clearly people who can control their anger most of the time, others who get triggered even when the waiter messes up their name in their order. Another argument is, the entire brain is one single neural network. So the part that’s conscious is most definitely connected to the deep subconscious thru some chain of neurons. Where is the demarcation?

Okay, can we control our subconscious processes? And to what degree? I argue a large (if not all) proportion of the mind that we think is beyond access is actually accessible with enough training. This has been proven by recent research on the iceman Wim Hof. He has demonstrated willful control of skin temperature independently of ambient temperature, willful control of immune response to pathogens, remarkable ability to tolerate cold and more! Subconscious processes like these are denied access by default for a good reason. But Wim Hof’s level of control over subconscious processes indicate significant potential of training conscious control for each of us. And each of us can all do this with diligent practice just like any other skill.

Interoceptive focus practices as a way of meditation

Here are some examples of such practice.

— Observe itching sensation, do not itch. Just observe the urge to itch arise and disappear.

— Observe the urge to cough but don’t cough.

— If you bite nails, next time, observe the urge to bite.

— The urge to swallow your saliva.

— The urge to blink your eyes.

— Hunger when you can see/smell food.

— Temptation to open the phone.

— The urge for sexual pleasure when you see someone attractive.

— The urge to speak in social situations.

— The urge to tense up under stress.

— The raising heart beat under stress.

— The urge for symmetry of experience in the body. Example, imagine how miserable you’d feel when someone only massaged one side of your body.

— The urge to speed up when someone is tailgating.

— The urge to get angry at someone for speaking something triggering.

— The urge to feel jealous at others.

The list goes on…

Interoceptive focus vs Mindfulness

In most ways, interoceptive focus is the same as any mindfulness practice except for one major difference. In mindfulness practices you let these autonomic processes arise spontaneously, our mind gets carried away and we practice bringing the attention back to our target. In that sense there is a risk of viewing the urge as a villain (although when mindfulness is done right, this isn’t the case).

On the other hand, in interoceptive focus practice, we treat these urges as friends that we welcome and observe. Sometimes, we voluntarily invite them to arise and be dissipated by our observation. The goal with interoceptive focus is not about letting go of the follow up thoughts from a distracted mind.

The goal is to take control of the subconscious mental processes, hence bringing them within conscious control.

Why Interoceptive focus

So why is this skill useful you may ask. For example, why not let the immune system do its job without conscious intervention? The idea here is not no intervene into subconscious processes, but to consciously choose when to allow a subconscious process.

If you imagine the mind as an organization, the fully conscious mind (the CEO) has access to even the lowly intern sitting in the deepest recesses of the organization.

This level of control is not to be taken lightly. Just because the CEO has access to the intern, trying to micromanage everything is overwhelming and unproductive. But, the ability to keep them in check when they go rogue is not just a nice to have, but a must have in any organization.

Individuation and Interoceptive focus

Having the roots of conscious mind deeply embedded into the subconscious is what the psychoanalyst Carl Jung calls as individuation where the conscious and the subconscious mind are acting in harmony and not independently of each other. This might not be the same as enlightenment where I think the primary goal is about letting go of control, but maybe they converge at the same place in the limit. Well who knows?

About me

My name is Sekhar Chebiyyam and I love exploring the nature, mountains, and learning new skills. I talk about everything ranging from wellness, travel, food, mindset, nature, spirituality and more! Additionally, I am also a certified breath-work and ice bath (Wim Hof method) coach and you can find all about my coaching on my webpage here.